A Man for All Seasons

Henry VIII wanted to get a divorce with Catherine of Aragon and get married to Anne Boleyn. In the eye of the Catholics he could not divorce Catherine of Aragon. Henry VIII wants his children inherited the throne; he introduced the act of succession and made himself head of the Church of England. When Henry VIII made Thomas More the Lord Chancellor, Henry VIII expected Thomas More to support him but Thomas More did not support him. Thomas More did not like the idea of Henry VIII getting divorce.

Meg is applying direct pressure on More by asking him to say the oath and not believe in it, so he will get the benefits of believing it and stick to his morals at the same time. However, More thinks this is against Catholic religion because he thinks of an oath as "words we say to God," so he certainly can not use Meg's strategy. Meg pressures More directly by trying to reach out to his feelings when she says emotionally, "But in reason! Haven't you done as much as God can reasonably want?" (page 81).

More knows that if all the laws were to be "cut down," even he would not be safe from the Devil himself. More can appreciate that Man's law nor God's law is enough to uphold society but if both coexist, then both moral and civil justice can be carried out. Ultimately, More is a human being, just like Cromwell, Rich and The Common Man. He makes mistakes and he knows, "…I'm not God." However what he does know is that he is not willing to compromise the one thing he is not willing to let go of- his integrity.

King Henry VIII was seeking approval from Thomas in obtaining a divorce from his wife Catherine because she was not able to produce any heirs to the throne. The King was looking for his approval because Thomas was respected by society. The King already had other peoples’ approval . The two men were in conflict because they had a fundamental difference in outlook on what constituted the right balance between the spiritual and the practical. The two were Catholics.

The first priority of a prince or ruler should be to better the people and to protect them. Machiavelli stated that ones duty, as a prince is to be as powerful as can be, but as a ruler the first priority should be the people, and as a prince, to be selfless, good, and wise. Duty is a moral or legal obligation, in other words, to serve what is good for the people. The prince’s duty should be to protect and better the people. This does not, in the least, fit with Machiavelli’s first duty.

Hamlet believes that in order for him to act, everything must be perfect. In part, this belief impedes him from killing Claudius. When given the perfect opportunity to kill Claudius, Hamlet instead of acting, lets the opportunity pass by saying that the timing wasn’t right. Hamlet believed that because Claudius was in prayer the timing was not right. The line “Why this is hire and salary, not revenge!” shows that he feared by killing Claudius while he was in prayer he would send Claudius to heaven, and would not have revenged his father’s death.

He further elaborates by saying, “ The only obligation, which I have the right to assume is to do at anytime what I think is right”(Thoreau 387). Thoreau places critical thinking and principle over blindly following what is dictated by the government. By taking control of their will, men make it impossible to be governed unjustly and can bring about a more just society. This reliance on themselves to know what is righ... ... middle of paper ... ...action. These are the men who prevent society from progressing because they refuse to take a stand.

While Machiavelli keeps the need for a leader to have independence, seriousness, loyalty, and intellect; he rejects the necessity of generosity, mercy, and honesty, in favor of the outward appearance of these virtues. While Machiavelli’s viewpoint differs from the common ideology of his time and of classical antiquity, he does not disagree with all of the virtues. One such virtue is independence. Machiavelli spends the beginning of his treatise discussing principalities and defending them. A wise and successful leader, he says, should not use auxiliaries or mercenaries, as they will always lack unity and their true loyalty is always uncertain.

Arthur was to be king and had already married Catherine of Aragon. A husband must be provided, so at the prodding of the Spanish and English monarchies, the Pope threw out the doctrine that stated a man may not marry his brother’s wife and Henry and Catherine wed. They rule happily — for a while — until Henry falls in love with Anne Boleyn, finds out Catherine cannot bear him any sons, and desires to divorce her. The Catholic Church does not support his requests, and Henry attempts to persuade them otherwise, claiming the marriage should be annulled based on its original religious illegality. The Church and More do not buy this claim, considering Henry caused the problem in the first place.

In their meeting the topic of the Kings re-marriage is what the Cardinal wanted to talk to More about, When Woolsey says "...that thing out there is at least fertile, Thomas". More shows that he is against the divorce by saying "But she's not his wife". More again shows his beliefs that a dispensation was given so that Henry could marry Catherine and Thomas knows that the Pope will not give a dispensation on a dispensation. More believes that the Pope should make the decision about the divorce. And More ...